Closure for high-pressure vessels



M rch 30, 1948- D. P. M EIGS CLOSURE FOR HIGH PRESSURE VESSELS OriginalFiled Aug. 19, 1945 INVENTOR. 1 o o 8, Qnme'i'g a,

Patented Mar. a0,- 1948 CLOSURE FOR- HIGH-PRESSUItE VESSELS Douglas P.Meigs, Silver Spring, Md., assignor, by mesne assignments, to AmericanInstrument 00., Inc., a corporation of Maryland Original applicationAugust 19, 1943, Serial No. 499,284. Divided and this application May26, 1944, Serial No. 537,492

My invention relates broadly to closures for high pressure vessels andmore particularly to a construction of reliable closure for chemicalreaction bombs.

This application is a division of my application Serial No, 499,284,filed August 19, 1943, now abandoned, for Closure for high pressurevessels.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a construction ofclosure for chemical reaction bombs which is capable of sealing moderatesized openings against very high pressures while still providing maximumstrength of the vessel and enabling quick opening of the vessel by aworkman with a minimum of special equipment.

Another objectof my invention is to provide a simplified construction ofclosure for high pressure vessels which is reliable and is capable ofquantity production at moderate cost.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a simplifiedconstruction of closure head internally screw-threaded to engage thescrewthreaded end of areceptacle and operative to confine a closuremember in sealing relation to the high pressure vessel with meansextending at an angle through said closure head for maintaining thesealed relation of said closure memher with respect to said receptacle.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a construction ofclosure for high pressure vessels in which a cover member internallyscrewthreaded to engage external screw threads on a mouth of a vessel isarranged to embrace and secure a closure member transversely of themouth of the receptacle with a multiplicity of individually adjustablescrew devices carried by the cover member and extending at an angle tothe axis of the receptacle for maintaining the closure member in sealedrelation with respect to the receptacle.

Other and further objects of my invention reside in a construction ofclosure for super-pressure bombs including facilities for establishingseveral connections with the bomb while insuring a reliable sealingagainst super pressures as set forth more fully in the specificationhereinafter following by reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the closure structure ofmy invention in which the cover member and several individual pressuremaintaining members are illustrated in sealed position on the end of thebomb; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the closure illustrated in Fig, 1 lookingdown in the direction of line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and showing the inlet andoutlet and the pressure determinative connections in transverse section;and Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the super-pressureclosure taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

The problem of providing a simple closure for 5 Claims. (Cl. 220-39)member.

vessels capable of withstanding pressures over 10,000 p. s. i. and yetcapable of being opened and closed with a minimum of effort, becomesfairly serious when the size of the opening exceeds that of smalllaboratory experimental bombs, that is, anything over a few inches indiameter.

My invention comprises sealing means for a super-pressure bomb in whicha cover member apertured at its center for the passage of inlet andoutlet connections and a pressure gauge connection is internallythreaded to engage external threads on the mouth of a super-pressurebomb. The cover member serves to seal the mouth of the super-pressurebomb with a gasket intermediate the mouth of the bomb and the cover Thecover member has an annular shoulder thereon against which a thrust ringis seated. A multiplicity of cap screws are carried by the cover memberand are arranged to exert pressure against the thrust ring forcorrespondingly exerting pressure against the cover member and efiectingsealing relation thereof with respect to the mouth of the bomb. The capscrews are inclined at an angle to the axis of the bomb. The advantagesof inclining the cap screws are: an increase in strength of the closure;the increase in accessibility to the connections and Openings in thecenter of the head of the closure; the provision of greater space inwhich to apply the head securing and head removing tools and theincreasing of the total area of the ends of the cap screws with respectto the head while spacing the heads further apart. For example, in thestandard design of closures of this type, a '7" compression head mightbe secured in position for sixteen cap screws. In the construction shownin the drawings, twelve 1%" cap screws might be arranged in the samespace occupied by sixteen /4" cap screws, which arrangement raises thefactor of safety to a higher value and provides for greater strength inthe position which is normally one of the weakestpoints in a closure ofthis type.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the bomb is represented at 53having an externally threaded neck 55 with an annular seat 55 formed inthe periphery of the neck 53 for receiving the gasket 56. In thisarrangement the head is represented at 5! having a, shoulder 58establishing sealing connection with the gasket 56. The head 51 has acentral cylindrical projecting portion 60 through which the inletpassage 6! and outlet passage 02 extends. lished with inlet pipe 35through coupling 34 and outlet pipe M and coupling 40 with the inlet andoutlet passages Bi and 62. A thrust ring 63 having a fiat face '64 andan outwardly inclined face 55 is arranged to fit over the centralcylindrical projecting portion 60 of the head 5'! and seat Connectionsare estabupon the annular shoulder 59 thereof as shown.

The thrust ring 83 serves as a bearing. surface against which theinclined cap. screws 66, 61, 68,

asaaus- 4 through said thrust ring against said head for sealing thereceptacle.

3. A closure for high pressure vessels comprising a receptacle enclosinga high pressure mebear-against the inclined face 65 of the thrust ring63 and converge onaxes toward the center of pressure within thereceptacle that contains the pressure medium.

The cap ring 18 is provided with adepending skirt shown at 80 which isinternally screw threaded at 8| to engage the screw threads 54a. on theneck of bomb 53. The skirt 80 of the cap ring 18 is provided withradially extending passages 83 and 84 therein which register with thejuncture of head 51 and annular seat 55 of neck 53 when the cap ring isscrewed to the limit of the closure .position, whereby excessivepressures in bomb 53 may be released by blowing past the gasket 56 andthrough the safety passages 83 and 84 rather than creating a destructiveforce injurious to the structure of the bomb.

Each of the cap screws is provided with tool engaging heads and asheretofore explained these heads are rendered more accessible by reasonof the increased spacing of the heads resulting from the angulardisposition of the cap screws.

The head 51 carries in addition to the service connections, suchpressure or temperature measuring connections as may be desirable. Ihave indicated the passage 85 in head 61 for connection to any suitablepressure or temperature measuring device which has further beenindicated in Fig. 2 as leading to the connection 86.

While I have described my invention in one of its preferred embodiments,I realize that modifications in construction may be made and I intend nolimitations upon my invention other than may be imposed by the scope ofthe appended claims.

' What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is as follows:

1. A closure for high pressure vessels comprising a receptacle enclosinga high pressure medium, a head engageable with said receptacle, a capring engageable with said receptacle, an annular member disposed betweensaid cap ring and said head and a plurality of angularly disposedadjustable pressure applying members extending through said cap ring andengageable against said annular member and converging on axes in adirection toward the center of pressure Within said receptacle forexerting pressure against said head for sealing said head with respectto said receptacle.

2. A closure for high pressure vessels comprising a receptacle enclosinga. high pressure medium, a head engageable with said receptacle, athrust ring superimposed upon said head, said thrust ring having a faceinclined angularly with respect to said head, a cap ring engageable withsaid receptacle, and a plurality of pressure applying members extendingthrough said cap ring and converging at an angle to the central axis ofsaid receptacle and bearing against the angularly disposed face of saidthrust ring for exerting pressure in a direction toward the center ofpressure within said receptacle for applying pressure dium andexternally screw-threaded on the open end thereof, a closure memberengageable in sealing relation to the open endof said receptacle, aninternally threaded cover member enveloping said closure member andengageable with the extemal screw-threads on said vessel, a ring memberintermediate said closure member and said cover member and amultiplicity of angularly converging pressure applying membersscrewthreaded through said cover member on axes all directed toward thecenter of pressure within said receptacle and operative to exertpressure against said ring member for maintaining a pressure-tight sealbetween said closure member and said receptacle.

4. A closure for high pressure vessels comprising a receptacle for ahigh pressure medium externally screw-threaded on the open end thereof,a closure member engageable in sealing relation to the opnend of saidreceptacle, an internally threaded cover member enveloping said closuremember and engageable with the external screwthreads on said vessel anda multiplicity of pressure applying members screw-threaded through saidcover member and converging at an angle to the longitudinal axis of saidreceptacle in a direction toward the center of pressure within saidreceptacle, a thrust ring disposed between said cover member and saidclosure member, said pressure applying members being engageable againstsaid thrust ring for effecting distribution of sealing pressureperipherally of said closure member.

5. A closure for high pressure vessels comprising a receptacleexternally screw-threaded on the open end thereof, a closure memberengageable in sealing relation to the open end of said receptacle, aninternally threaded cover member enveloping said closure member andengageable with the external screw-threads on said vessel, said covermember being centrally apertured for the passage of a central projectingportion of said closure member, an annular shoulder formed on saidclosure member adjacent the central projecting portion thereof, anannular thrust ring carried by said shoulder, an inclined face on saidthrust ring and a plurality of screw-threaded pressure applying membersscrew threaded through said cover member and engageable against theinclined face of said thrust ring for distributing sealing pressure oversaid cover member with respect to the open end of said receptacle.

DOUGLAS P. MEIGS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

